Assessing the Seasonal Crop Acreage in the Ganges Delta Using Multi-Temporal Sentinel-2 Data: A Case Study in Gosaba CD Block: Crop Acreage Assessment Using Multi-Dated Sentinel-2 Data

M K NANDA; A GHOSH; D SARKAR; S SARKAR; K BRAHMACHARI; K RAY; R GOSWAMI; M MAINUDDIN

doi:10.54894/JISCAR.41.1.2023.129996

Authors

M K NANDA Department of Agricultural Meteorology and Physics, Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Mohanpur - 741 252, West Bengal, India
A GHOSH Department of Agricultural Meteorology and Physics, Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Mohanpur - 741 252, West Bengal, India; Department of Agricultural Meteorology, Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology, Bhubaneswar - 751 003, Odisha, India
D SARKAR Department of Agricultural Meteorology and Physics, Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Mohanpur - 741 252, West Bengal, India
S SARKAR Integrated Rural Development and Management Faculty Centre, Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda Educational and Research Institute, Narendrapur - 700 103, West Bengal, India
K BRAHMACHARI Department of Agronomy, Bidhan Chandra Krishi Viswavidyalaya, Mohanpur - 741 252, West Bengal, India
K RAY Sasya Shyamala Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda Educational and Research Institute, Arapanch, Sonarpur - 700 150, West Bengal, India
R GOSWAMI Integrated Rural Development and Management Faculty Centre, Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda Educational and Research Institute, Narendrapur - 700 103, West Bengal, India
M MAINUDDIN CSIRO Land and Water, Canberra, ACT - 2601, Australia

https://doi.org/10.54894/JISCAR.41.1.2023.129996

Keywords:

Crop coverage, Indian Sundarbans, Post and pre-monsoon, Sentinel-2, Random forests classification

Abstract

The present study assessed the seasonal and inter-annual variation in cropping pattern and crop acreage during summer (mid-February to May) and winter (November to January) seasons of 2017-2018, 2018-2019, and 2019-2020 cropping years over the Gosaba Block of Indian Sundarbans. Multi-temporal Sentinel-2 images acquired during the critical crop growth stages during a particular season were taken together for classification instead of a single image classification approach. This study employed the random forest algorithm for image classification for seasonal crop-fallow mapping over three consecutive years. The estimated post-monsoon (winter) crop coverage was less than that in the pre-monsoon (summer) season. In the post-monsoon season crop coverage varied from 3% to 12% of the net cultivable area, whereas pre-monsoon season crop coverage varied from 23% to 42%. The estimated area under boro rice decreased in 2018-19 and 2019-20 with a simultaneous increase in non-rice crops. Seasonal fallow land showed wide inter-annual variation. The amount and distribution of rainfall during the last part of the monsoon season and in the following months had a strong influence on the cropping pattern of the Sundarbans region. Results clearly showed that winter crop coverage gradually decreased over the study period depending on the rainfall pattern in the monsoon season and in the following months. During summer season, the area under non-rice crops notably increased at the cost of the area under boro rice. These findings clearly indicated the farmers’ preferences for cultivating crops according to the climatic variability. The present study may be helpful for cropping intensification in the threatened regions for achieving sustainability.

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